Arsenal 1 Wolves 1 – What the stats reveal

It was a fine display from Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, so let’s have a look at what the stats from whoscored.com – specialists in the in-depth analysis of detailed football data – show.

Getting stuck in

Wolves made 22 successful tackles at the Emirates, and that is a respectable figure.

Joao Moutinho and Jonny Castro Otto – two of the best overall performers – came up with five each, putting them joint top of the tackling table.

And while the ‘striker’s tackle’ is very much a thing, you cannot apply it to Raul Jimenez as he won the ball back cleanly on four occasions.

To put the overall number into perspective too, it is double the amount of tackles Wolves made in the 1-1 home draw with Southampton a few weeks ago, four more than in the 2-0 win at Manchester City and four more than in the 1-1 stalemate up at Newcastle.

The amount of aerial duels they won is worth noting as well – 18 compared to Arsenal’s seven.

Jimenez led the way in that respect, with six, while Matt Doherty won four headers. Wolves were not afraid to mix it up.

Jonny be good going forward

Another area where Wolves were better than the Gunners was dribbling – and Otto was the shining star.

The Spaniard’s four successful dribbles meant he effectively carried the ball more than anyone else on the pitch.

A lot has been made of his defending during his time in gold and black – and rightly so, as he is consistently solid on the back foot.

But Otto has definitely improved in an attacking aspect. A quick look at his overall heat map actually shows a large number of his 78 touches came in the opposing half too.

In terms of the second-most successful dribbler for Wolves, it will not surprise you a lot to know that it was Diogo Jota, with three.

Neves not shy to shoot

Ruben Neves came up with four shots in North London. And while that is not an enormous figure by any means, it still brings a large amount of comfort.

There arguably is not a better striker of the ball from distance in the top flight, so seeing him return to his old ways and take aim from long range was lovely.

The Portuguese has had 15 shots in the Premier League – all from outside the box – this campaign, meaning this game accounts for nearly a third of his total figure.

On the subject of shooting, you might be slightly shocked to find out that Jimenez had eight shots, even though he seemed quiet for a lot of the game before coming up with the equaliser – meeting Moutinho’s cross with a deft header.

At the same time, though, four of those shots were blocked, while the other four were on target, so you cannot accuse the Mexican of being wasteful. As Nuno said afterwards, Jimenez is fantastic.

Relentless pair

As well as making the joint most successful tackles, Moutinho and Otto had the joint most touches of the ball for Wolves, with 78.

The two have come in for praise for their displays against the Gunners, and the willingness they showed to have possession just furthers the argument that they were two of the stand-out performers on the day.

Very few would have come away from the capital thinking Moutinho and Otto had a bad game, but the stats back up the idea that they played very well.

Moutinho also took all nine of Wolves’ corners – and that was another area where the visitors were better than the Gunners, as they had eight. He had an 85 per cent pass success rate as well.